Fan



A. J. AYLESWORTH.

FAN.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7.1921.

1,436,850. Patented Nov. 28, 1922..

ARTHUR J. AYLESWORTH,

or Lann'srnn, rarcniean.

` ran.

Application led March f7,

.To all whom t may concern.'

Beit known that l, ARTHUR J. AYLns- WORTH, citizen of the United States,residing at Lakeside, in the county of Berrien and State of Michigan,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Fans, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

My invention relates to hand operated devices in which reciprocatingmovement is translated into rotary movement, the invention being ofparticular utility in the construction of hand operated fans, though itis'not to be limited to such use.

The device of my invention includes a reciprocable gear actuatingelement which is manually operable in one direction, when employed in ahand operated device and is preferably given restoring movement by meansof a. light spring. There isa guide for confining this gearactuatingelement to its line `of travel and this guide is preferablytubular to constitute it also 'a housing for the gearing and a handle bywhich the entire device may be held. rlhe load shaft is desirablyco-aXial with said tubular housing whichcarries suitable bearings forit.

The gear element that is actuated by the aforesaid reciprocable gearactuating element preferably surrounds the load shaft on which it isloose and is'capable of limited movement longitudinally thereof. rl`hisgear element is formed to have ta spiral thread that is engaged by thereciprocable gear actuating element when this actuating element is movedin one direction, by hand in the preferred embodiment of the invention,the gear element engaged thereby being brought into driving engagementor connection-with the load shaft thatit thereafter rotates. When thegear actuating hand pressure upon .the gear actuating element isreleased at the conclusion of or at any point in the travel of thisactuating element, said gear element is disengaged from the load shaftby the action of the light spring which then is also preferably eec tiveto place the gear actuating element at one limit of its travel. If theload upon the shaft happens to. be in the form of fan blades, they maybe folded to lie along their aiXs of rotation, whereafter they may bedrawn into the tubular housing or handle. The invention will `be morefully explained by reference to the accompanying drawing showing thepreferred embodiment 192i. `serial No. 450,153.

thereof and in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation ofafan 4structure enr bracing the invention, the fan blades being shownkunfolded; Fig. 2 vis a view of the parts shown in Fig. 1 with'the bladesdrawn into the hollow handle; Fig. 3 is a view in elevation, partiallybroken away, of the structure adjusted as illustrated in Fig. 2; Fig. 4is an end view; and 'Figs 5 and are sectional views respectively takenon `lines i Like parts are indicated by similar characters ofreferencethroughout the different figures.

` As illustrated,`the load shaft` 1 is journaled at its ends uponbearings 2 and 3 `that are atthe oppositeends of a tubular shell 4.

The bearing 3 is preferably a ring in the outer end of an inner shell 5that is securely anchored within a. recess 6 in the bottom of the shell4. rlihe shaft has a iiange 1 engaging bearing balls 3 to take up shaftthrust. Fan blades 8 are illustrated in the present embodiment of theinvention as the load which is to be driven by `said shaft. Each bladeis curled at its inner end about the wire of a wire ring 9 that isdisposed withina hollow ymounting collar 10. This wire ring 9 isresilient and slightly eXpansible to permit it to be separated `from theshaft with which it is coupled. The outer end of collar 10 is formedwith a recess that hooksover the hinged ends of the blades 8 so thatthese blade ends may be forced into and out of their seat 1l inthe shafthead 12 to establish or break their driving connection with the shaft 1,the resilient wire ring 9 permitting the separation of the blades andshaft and establishing the connection of the blades and shaft, accordingto the adjustment of saidring that iseffected by the collar'lO. y

A. spiral gear 13 `surrounds and is loose upon theload shaft and isyadapted to move longitudinally of the lshaft to a ylimited eX- ftentdefined' bythe o uter shaft ring 3 and the inner shaft flange y 14. VForeconomy and simplicity of' construction the spiral gear 13 is a spiralhelix of stiff wire whose inner end is brought into drivingengagementwith the inner shaft 'angef14 which is formed with recessesforengagement with saidvinner end of the .wireghelix The shaft to thelimited extent permitted by the ring 3 and flange 14 and is also rotatedby means of the gear actuating element 16 movable longitudinally of theshaft and directly guided in its travel byslot 17 that is formedlongitudinally in the inner shell forming a `part of the handleStructure and in which slot the gear actuating element slides. The gearactua-ting element is preferably in the 4form of a pin that enters thespiral space defined by the wire of the spiral gear groove. This pin iscarried by a cylindrical sliding block 18 that is in close sliding fit`within the handle. Movement longitudilIlally of the handle or shell 4is imparted to thepin 16 by means of a trigger thumb piece 19 pivotallymounted upon the sliding block at 20 and passing through a guiding slot21 formed longitudinally of and in the hollow7 handle'fl, this slot 21being the main guiding iniuence of the Lgear actuating element.

lhen the gearactuating element is in fan operating' adjustment the heel422 of the trigger'is engaged with the seat formed in the hollowIsliding block 18. A light Icoiled spring 24 is bottomed. at one end uponthe inner end 4of the shell 4 and has its other end in thrustingrelation with the gear actuating element 16 preferably through theintermediation of the sliding block 18, whereby said gear actuatingelement is restored to the outer end of the shell 4 and the spiral gear13 is normally maintained out of driving' connection with the load shaftflange 14. Then the fan is to be operated, the gear actuating element 1Gis manually depressed against the force of the light spring 24, beingconsequently moved longitudinally of the shaft to acquire drivingconnection with the load shaft flange 14 to rotate it and its shaft asthe manually effected movement of the gear actuating element continues.Vhcn the gear actuating element is released at any place to which it ismanually brought, the light spring 24 will operate to reverse thedirection of travel thereof yto restore it to idle position. ln thisreturn movement of the actuating element 16 the gear 13 will be therebylifted out of driving connection with 'the load shaft so that such shaftwill not be positivelyI rotated thereby on the spring effected returnmovement of said gear actuating element. This construction permits thespring 24 to be very light and easily overcome by the hand pressureemployed to turn the shaft. By engaging the element 19 by the thumb andthe hollow 26 in the base of the tubular shell 4 by a finger the devicemay readily be held and operated with the fan blades close to the face.

`When the fan is not in use, its bladesv 8 may be folded or collapsed,to which en d their mounting collar 10 is inwardly pressed toV bring thehinged ends of the blades nasser-io out of their receiving groove 11,whereafter this collar and the blades assembled therewith are drawn intothe tubular shell. The trigger 19 may alsobe folded against the side ofthe handle after it is moved to the base of the handle, as `indicated inFig. 2. ln this foldingoperation of the trigger the trigger tail 2"?engages the sliding block 28 and forces it inwardly against the force ofthe spring 24, and so warps the positions of the trigger and the partsmoving therewith, that they will be retainedl at the base of the handle.

lin the'embodiment of the invention illustrated a pair of. claws 29 aremounted upon the inner sliding hollow block 28. They pass throughcamways 30 in the sliding block 18, which normally hold lthese claws outof action. Vhen the fan blades are to be collapsed the folding of thetrigger will force the rearward movement of the inner sliding block 28that carries with` it the claws 29 and causes these claws to engage theflange 31 on the collar 107 the trigger, liowevenbeing given its foldingadjustment when it is at the outermostr end of its travel. The claws29,r being now engaged with the flange 31, will draw the collar 10within the handle 'as the trigger 19 is moved rearwardly, the collarseparating the hinged ends of the fan blades from the recess 11 andcarrying these hinged ends of the fan blades within the handle. Theshaft head 12 carries a guiding formation 32 that engages the fan bladesas their inner ends, are moved rearwardly within the hollow handlewhereby the folding of the fan blades isV effected so that they will besubstantially'entirely en- .closed by the handle when the trigger hasbeen moved to its rearrnost position in which it is held by the warpingof the parts before described. lWhen the fan is again put in use thetrigger is put in its unfolded position shown in F 1, whereupon thespring 24 will be effective to place the blocks 18 and 110 28 in theiroutermost position together with the trigger to enable the fan tobeoperated in the manner described ln this adjustment the claws 29 aredisengaged from the collar 10, the hoolr ends thereof lying in the zonethat is between the flanges 31 and 33. Features not herein claimed areclaimed in my divisional application Serial No. 57 2,111, filed June 28,1922.

TWhile' l have herein shown and particu- 120 larly described thepreferred embodimentof my invention l do not wish to be limited to theprecise details of vconstruction shown as changes may readily be madewithout departing from the spirit of my invention, but having thusdescribed my invention Ielaim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent the following 1. A. fan structure includ-ing a. rotatable fanblade foldable to lie along its' axis of ro- 130 tation; manually7operated mechanism for rotating the blade; and a shell constituting ahandle for the fan structure and a support for the operating mechanism,said fan blade being insertable; when folded; within said shell.

2. A fan structure including a rotatable fan blade foldable to lie alongits axis oi rotation; manually operated mechanism .for rotating theblade; means for connecting the fan blade with and disconnecting it fromsaid driving mechanism; and a shell constituting a handle for the fanstructure and a support for the operating mechanism, said fan bladebeing insertable when folded and uncoupled, Within said shell.

3. A fan structure including a rotatable fan blade Jfoldable to liealong its axis of rotation; manually operated mechanism for rotating theblade and including a shaft upon and with Which the fan blade isseparately coupled; means for connecting the fan blade with anddisconnecting it from said driving mechanism; and a shell constituting ahandle for the :fan structure and, a support Jfor the operating`mechanism; said fan blade being insertable1 when folded and uncoupled,With- .invsaid shell.

4;. A fan structure including a rotatable fan blade foldable to liealong its axis of rotation; manually operated mechanism for rotating theblade and including a shaft upon and With which the fan blade isseparably coupled; means :for connecting the fan blade with anddisconnecting it from said driving mechanism; a shell constituting ahandle for the fan structure and a support for the operating mechanism,said fan blade being insertable, when folded and uncoupled, Within saidshell.; and means assembled With the shell and movable along the samethat is coupled with the blade structure of the fau to move it Withinthe handle.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this second day ofMarch D., 1921.

ARTHUR J. AYLEsWoRTH.

